Family Bonds
by Ren Kayashima
Summary: A small glimpse into a younger David Rossi's life reveals why he may know something about autism. A Tarot Series One-Shot.


Author: Ren Kayashima

Genre: Family

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Alas my top secret mission to steal the rights to Criminal Minds failed. At the last minute my repel line broke and I was arrested for trespassing on ABC ground. If you would like to help me with bail money…

**Note: After watching Seasons six's episode "Coda" I got to thinking. This is the result of that thinking. Enjoy.**

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Young David Rossi was an interesting person. He was a second generation Italian-American. He was baptized Catholic, but this didn't stop him from running around using the lord's name in vain. In fact, it seemed to be his favorite curse. In high school, he wasn't a geek, but he wasn't in the in-crowd either. He much preferred to watch and observe from the sidelines.

His mother Bianca, made the perfect spaghetti and meatballs, and his father Mario, was known for giving the Rossi children a swat to the back of the head if they ever misbehaved.

There were four Rossi children in all, two boys and two girls.

Dave was the oldest and the wild child of the family. Not only could he not keep his unmanageable hair to stay put, but chance were that if something went wrong, David Rossi was right in the middle of it.

Isabella was a year younger than Dave and the angel to his devilish attitude. She got straight A's, made the Varsity tennis team, and got a full ride scholarship to Notre Dame. She was a head shorted and her curly black hair was almost always pulled into a manageable ponytail.

Amy was the artist of the family. She loved to sit by on a bench and sketch out the lives of everyday people. Even on family vacations the sketch artist was never without her pencil and sketch pad. You could not pry the two items from her hands even if she had died.

Joseph was the youngest. He was a freshman as Dave was a senior, and what separated him from his other siblings was his diagnosis of a child with Asperger's syndrome.

A form of high functioning autism, Asperger's wasn't what the Rossi's were anticipating when Joseph started to communicate less. He wanted nothing to do with normal school and instead, placed his interest in music.

In an effort to bring the family closer together despite Joseph's condition, the Rossi's signed their children up for piano lessons. A psychiatrist suggested that this would help form a bond with the youngest sibling as well as create a topic of discussion. Along with the music lessons each Rossi child had to research autism in an effort to find more ways to help the family.

Dave was reluctant at first. He preferred to listen to music, not make it. For a while, he half assed his piano playing efforts.

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One day while walking down the freshly painted white walls of his Long Island high school, Dave witnessed something that changed his mind about playing the piano.

The quarterback Jake O'Malley had Joseph pinned up against the school's red lockers. Joseph's eyes were wide in fright while Jake's fists were buried into his small chest. Jake pushed the freshman even harder into the locker.

"You were supposed to play the song that I had picked out. Not some old timer song with not words!" Jake growled.

The quarterback was joined by two of his football buddies. Rage coursed through David's body as he watched the situation grow.

"Ch-chopin's Etude in E was a better song to play for Cindy," Joseph forced out. He avoided the quarterbacks gaze as he dangled a foot in the air.

Dave clenched his fist and marched over to the quarterback. He pulled Jake off roughly and pushed him away from Joseph. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" he shouted.

Joseph sunk to the ground and started to move his fingers in the desired motions of playing the air piano. He started humming one of Beethoven's piano concertos as he closed his eyes.

"The freak was supposed to play something modern," Jake shouted as he pushed Dave back. "Not something from a hundred years ago."

Dave stumbled slightly and moved to gain his balance once more. He glared at Jake ready to punch him in the face. Maybe then he would see how many girls were interested in the football player when he had a black eye.

The Principal came out of his office and gave a cold and calculating glare to the five teenage boys in the hall way. The football players scattered like cockroaches did when you turned on the lights.

After making sure they were gone Dave looked at his younger brother who was still 'playing' the piano and humming to his own tune. Dave crouched down and his face gained a more calm and composed look. He didn't want to scare his brother by having the same tense jaw and clenched fist that he had a moment ago. "Hey buddy," he smiled. "Are you okay?"

Dave reached out gently to see if his brother truly was okay. As soon as the tips of his fingers had connected with Joseph's shoulder, the younger brother instinctively yelped and tensed up.

Dave made quiet hushing noises to calm him down. "Hey, how about we go to the music room. Then you can play Flight of the Bumblebee. You like that song. Right?"

Joseph nodded and grabbed onto Dave's jacket. "David, Chopin is much better than The Eagles isn't he?" he asked. His voice still held fright, but it was quickly disappearing.

Dave smiled and held Joseph up. "Yeah, Chopin is way better."

A few minutes later Dave was seated on a stool as he watched his brother slip into a world of inner peace. Joseph's fingers flew across the black and ivory keys effortlessly as he played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. As David watched him, he vowed that he would try and become a great piano player like his brother.

That night the two brothers sat at the piano as Joseph taught David how to play the same piece he had been playing earlier. Joseph looked at his brother and smiled. "David, you're better than the Eagles."

David stopped playing and looked at Joseph with a big grin. "Anyone who can play the piano is better than The Eagles," he said before laughing along with his brother.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: When I say that this was fun to write, I'm not kidding. Not only did it break the monotony of math class, but it was kind of fun to think about Rossi's family. I know I didn't go into large detail about the remaining family members, but that was because I wanted to place the focus on Dave and Joseph. I'm sure there is more I can do with this, but I'm not the biggest expert on the seventies, which would be when the Rossi children are in high school.

I hope you enjoyed it. Drop me a review letting me know what you think. Most people know how much I love hearing from the readers.

Ren/Shane


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